Hey Skullknighters, I’ve been working intermittently on a Berserk fan edit of the Golden Age trilogy intercut with the ’97 anime. The goal is to make a series of four movies that more accurately represent the spirit of Berserk and yet retain an exciting cinematic pace. There have been hundreds of minor edits to make scenes and conversation flow better as well as major additions to improve character development and plot.

This cut is coming from a wholly different philosophy than Griffith’s excellent and meticulous fanedit Berserk: Recut. While I am trying to make the movies more faithful to the manga, this is by no means a purist cut that attempts to recreate manga as accurately as possible. These are meant to feel like movies. I don’t think that the manga, as it is, lends itself to being a “movie.” This is not to say that I think that the story is told bad in manga form; quite the contrary. But I do think some storytelling techniques work better in the literary mediums. Therefore there have been some cuts, and overall voiceover has been significantly diminished. The Black Swordsman has been shifted to a more linear position in the story. If the movies represent a scene in a way that I find more interesting or cinematic than the anime, I go with that version of it.

Another important note: The ’97 anime is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio while the golden age trilogy is 16:9. I chose to retain these original formats to avoid drastic recropping of the picture and composition of the anime. I realize this may initially feel abrupt, but I promise that you get used to it.

Notable changes to movie 1 include:-Color correction to match the animation styles of the two formats-Hundreds of minor cuts to make conversation flow more naturally-Removal of most voice over and redundant dialogue throughout-Removal of many background characters commentary (Not all)-Restoring the "In this world" opening line by Void-Modification of opening credits-Restoring Corkus's debate on whether to attack Guts on the road-Multiple minor edits during Corkus, Casca and Griffith's initial attack on Guts-Removal of super human jump by Griffith-Restoring minor reactions after Guts is beaten a second time by Grifith-Restoring Guts reflecting on his loss in a tent and Casca warding off an ambush by Corkus-Restoring Guts First battle with the Hawks -Restoring Guts childhood flashbacks-Restoring Griffith's philosophical discussion with Guts about destiny after the battle-Restoring the after battle party-Restoring the morning discussion with Judeau and the water fight with Griffith-Restoring the Beherit being introduced after the water fight. Includes Fortune teller flashback-Removal of the trilogy's "I will have my own kingdom" scene-Extension of the fight with Zodd to be more intense and faithful (Guts beaten worse, Zodd's arm severed)-Restoring Minister Foss and nobles confronting Guts in castle corridor after Zodd-Restoring Guts visiting injured Griffith at chapel and getting punched by Casca-Removing Griffith showing Guts the Beherit on the stairs and Guts almost falling off railing.-Restored Guts musing on the roof with his sword -Restored Foss and Julius's plotting. Shortened significantly so that Julius doesn't come off so thick headed.-Shortened the Fall Hunt scene so that Charlotte doesn't wail at the end-Added Guts talking to Griffith about his library-Added Guts witnessing Julius give Adonis a harsh sword lesson. -Shortened Julius's death scene so he doesn't stagger like a zombie-Extended Guts escape from Julius's keep to be more intense.-Restored Guts escape into the sewers after leaping over the wall.-Some subtle edits in the 'dreams' speech.

Changes not made:-Aspect ratio for both media sources remain true their original format (This cannot be fixed without massive picture cropping)-Opening castle siege remains (Sets up a world at war, is an exciting opening, and does a great job of introducing Guts)-Guts wears a mask during assassination of Julius (a reasonable change and the trilogy's version of the scene is more cinematic)

CONTINUITY NOTE:Due to merging two different sources of the same story, there are certain inevitable continuity errors. This edit focuses on character, story, and pacing over the continuity of wardrobe, art style, or minor details. These continuity errors are known and remain by choice.

Total Running time: 97 minutes

Final disclaimer: This fanedit is for educational purposes only. I own all of this source media in a commercially available format and do not endorse piracy in any way. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO WARNER BROTHERS, STUDIO 4ºC, VIZ MEDIA, VAP, AND MEDIA BLASTERS. Viewers should own a commercially available version of the film and television show prior to viewing this fanedit.

This seems really cool but why is the widescreen movie footage miniaturized?

It's a formatting issue I ran into when combining the two media types between the Golden Age and Anime. The issue is due to Vimeo's native aspect ratio and the 4:3 aspect ratio of the anime. The widescreen of the golden age film couldn't be larger without cropping off the top and bottom of the anime. There's also an annoying blue line on the right hand border. I'm experimenting with settings on the movies timeline to see if I can solve this and boost the quality a bit more. A bit frustrating to be sure.

Edit: This has now been Fixed

In the meantime, if you guys have any constructive feedback, please let me know.

Notable changes include:-Color correction to match the animation styles of the two formats-Hundreds of minor cuts to make conversation flow more naturally-Removal of most voice over and redundant dialogue throughout-Removal of many background characters commentary (Not all)-Modification of opening credits-Restored Griffith's encounter with Minister Foss-Restored Charlotte giving Griffith the lode stone keepsake-Restored the introduction of the Queen-Restored Casca's flashback as well as the story about Gennon-Restored some of the banter between Guts and Casca as to why she resents him.-Extended the 100 man fight-Restored Samson to the fight-Made Guts super human leap look realistic-UPDATE: Reordered the mercenaries regrouping during the 100 man fight-Extended Casca fleeing from mercenaries-Extended Guts's fight on his own against the 100 men-Changed Casca's rescue so that Griffith is not present.-UPDATED: Altered the Hawks finding Guts so that Griffith is not present-Restored Guts being carried back to camp-Restored Guts being treated by the doctor-Restored Casca at the fire-Restored Judeau telling her about Griffith and giving her elf dust-Restored the Bonfire of Dreams scene in full-Restored Griffith returning to the camp-Abridged parts of the Midland war council-Restored Generals Raban and Owen discussing Griffith-Restored Guts playing Dice and learning that Gennon is at the head of Doldrey.-Restored Zodd watching the battle of Doldrey-Restored Zodd throwing his sword to Guts after he's knocked off his horse. -Restored Boscogn's head flying through the air.-Changed the dialogue between Griffith and Gennon now that their history is already clear.-Removed the bizarre shots of Gennons slave boys dead after the battle.-Restored Guts visiting a wounded Casca on the parapet with Zodd's sword and carrying her to see Griffith.-Restored Zodd observing the victory and commenting on the coming eclipse.

Changes NOT made:-Gennon still has Griffith look alike with him in the bath-Boscogn still orders eye patch to kill Griffith if he gets a chance-Eye patch is killed by Gennon before he can do the deed.-Guts sword is not broken when he falls off his horse for continuity reasons.

CONTINUITY NOTE:Due to merging two different sources of the same story, there are certain inevitable continuity errors. This edit focuses on character, story, and pacing over the continuity of wardrobe, art style, or minor details. These continuity errors are known and remain by choice.

Total Running time: 91 minutes

Final disclaimer: This fanedit is for educational purposes only. I own all of this source media in a commercially available format and do not endorse piracy in any way. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO WARNER BROTHERS, STUDIO 4ºC, VIZ MEDIA, VAP, AND MEDIA BLASTERS. Viewers should own a commercially available version of the film and television show prior to viewing this fanedit.

UPDATE: I have fixed the issue of the widescreen appearing small in the video player. I have also added some footage of Duke Julius training his son with Guts watching and made minor adjustments to the scene in which Griffith explains the Beherit to Guts. Follow the same link for the update.

Disclaimer: The above process had an unexpected oversight in which the disclaimer text at the beginning was blown up and is outside the frame. This is a mistake that will be corrected in future versions. This is the only instance in which anything is outside the frame. The rest of the movie is improved in resolution as well.

UPDATE: This is Fixed as well as a small gap that occured before Corkus ambushed Guts.

UPDATE: I have fixed the issue of the widescreen appearing small in the video player. I have also added some footage of Duke Julius training his son with Guts watching and made minor adjustments to the scene in which Griffith explains the Beherit to Guts. Follow the same link for the update.

Disclaimer: The above process had an unexpected oversight in which the disclaimer text at the beginning was blown up and is outside the frame. This is a mistake that will be corrected in future versions. This is the only instance in which anything is outside the frame. The rest of the movie is improved in resolution as well.

UPDATE: The second movie is now reformatted to fill the video player more fully and has increased resolution. Some other minor changes include color correction in the 100 man fight to brighten up the murkiness from the Golden Age film. This edit is my favorite for it's balance between character building and exciting action. It feels much more like a movie than the original did with a more natural closure point.

The next wone will deal with Guts leaving the Hawks to find himself and the consequences that ensue. Returning are the Queens plot and good 'ol Godot.

My original release had a few technical issues including a green band across the side, a shitty transfer of the '97 anime, and several sound goofs I had missed. After much overhaul I have fixed these things and improved on others for a more final version of the cut. I'm much happier with the result.

Update: Chapter 2 has also been updated. Both are final versions now.

Subsequent chapters 3 and 4 will not have these issues upon launch. I welcome any feedback and room for improvement. Enjoy.

With the US release of the third movie, I've been able to finish chapter 3! Much more true to the manga. The Queen and her assassination attempt are back. Guts going to the tavern with Judeau and Corkus. Guts going mountain training for a year with Godot. This is what the movies should've been.

Notable changes include:-Color correction to match the animation styles of the two formats-Hundreds of minor cuts to make conversation flow more naturally-Removal of most voice over and redundant dialogue throughout-Removal of many background characters' commentary (Not all)-Altered opening credits-Restored sub plot of the Queen and Foss conspiring against Griffith -Restored Foss getting the message during the parade with Queen-Restored Lord Raban and Owen commenting during the Ball.-Removed Casca and Guts dancing.-Restored the poison goblet-Restored the assassin getting ambushed by Guts-Restored the Conspirators and Queen at Fire, Griffith's speech to her.-Restored conclusion with Foss and Griffith-Restored the aftermath of the fire, giving Guts and Griffith some one on one time before the duel.-Restored tearful reunion with the Hawks-Restored the funeral-Restored Casca trying to stop Guts from leaving-Restored Judeau and Corkus taking Guts to the tavern for a send off.-Restored Judeau asking Guts about Casca-Restored Guts final lines after the duel.-Removed the extended sequence of Griffith rubbing Charlotte's breast-Removed extended ambush of the Hawks. Originally they have a conversation while arrows rain down. Now it's to the point and realistic.-Restored Guts attending the tournament to fight Valencia-Restored Guts' year of training at Godot's cabin-Restored the talk about "Sparks"-Restored messenger telling them about Hawks as Fugitives -Included the raid on the Hawk's camp by Silat-Extended the raid on the Hawks camp with anime footage-Restored Guts catching up on events with Judeau, Rickert and Corkus-Restored Casca asking Guts to take a walk with her-Intercut waterfall fight with anime for better dialogue. Color corrected scenes to match look of early morning-Removed strobing effect when Casca falls-Replaced movie sex scene with the anime version as it's more tasteful-Restored scene of the Hawks preparing to go rescue Griffith

CONTINUITY NOTE:Due to merging two different sources of the same story, there are certain inevitable continuity errors. This edit focuses on character, story, and pacing over the continuity of wardrobe, art style, or minor details. These continuity errors are known and remain by choice.

Total Running time: 90 minutes

Final disclaimer: This fanedit is for educational purposes only. I own all of this source media in a commercially available format and do not endorse piracy in any way. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO WARNER BROTHERS, STUDIO 4ºC, VIZ MEDIA, VAP, AND MEDIA BLASTERS. Viewers should own a commercially available version of the film and television show prior to viewing this fanedit.

Chapter 4 is in a rough cut state. PM me if you would like to see a rough cut to give notes!

Comprehensive! I would guess that the lack of replies in this thread is due to many people (myself included) are wary of having to watch another anime, even if this one does abate the problems with both versions. Still, a truly exhaustive effort just judging from the list of changes/fixes, so bravo.

Comprehensive! I would guess that the lack of replies in this thread is due to many people (myself included) are wary of having to watch another anime, even if this one does abate the problems with both versions. Still, a truly exhaustive effort just judging from the list of changes/fixes, so bravo.

I appreciate the kind words and understand the trepidation for viewing a long video, especially when sourced by something so many were disappointed by, myself included. I felt like both the movies and the anime had a lot of wasted potential, often in different ways. The movies have a rushed paced, make random changes, and unforgivable omissions, but are often beautiful in the animation. The anime is cheaply animated, full of filler dialogue and dead space, and short changes the ending, but is fairly faithful to the manga most of the time. I knew that between them was a good version of the Golden Age. Something that had the pacing of a movie but did the manga justice.

I can assure you that this isn't a copy and paste job. The edit of each was charted out and took many revisions and test viewings to get right. I would easily estimate that each film contains several hundred edits. I hope some of the members here will give the first movie a chance before writing it off.

You're right to single out that scene. One of the biggest thorns in my side. I tried many versions of the edit to get it in the proper place but it's a problem of only one source of media and that source having a naked Guts and Casca in it. You can cut around to the anime here and there to hide it but it just ends up flowing badly and really calling attention to itself in a distracting way. Either you're cutting back and forth to a really frankensteined scene or else Guts was camping naked when Skull knight showed up. I ended up re-inserting it to the movies placement of it after Casca and Guts have sex. One of the few instances of deviation from the manga that I'm not thrilled with, but it does give the close of the movie a foreboding cliffhanger aspect. Reminding you that there is a supernatural threat out there.

Sorry but no. The ground work is laid for anyone who wants to take this edit and set it to japanese language, but it's far too much effort for me to redo everything. Not to mention that timing and pacing probably changes with translation. Some of the dub I imagine was done with the phrasing it was to match the characters lips so it's likely that it would need a full re-edit.

From what I've watched of your most recent edit (about 10-15 minutes), I have to say I'm very impressed. The editing is superb. I want to actually see the new movies (not seen any yet, but they are in the mail) before I dive fully into this so that I can really appreciate your work. I'm really looking forward to seeing your completed re-edited series.

Thank you, I'd love to hear your thoughts when you do. The last chapter is in process and may take a couple weeks, but I usually do have test screenings to iron out final issues. Volunteers are welcome if you don't mind watching something in a rougher state.

To me the Anime told the Golden Age story very well, but it had a pretty low budget which lead to a lot of drawbacks. From bad voice actors in the smaller parts, to action shots being a still frame that they just moved around.

The new movies looked really good (for the most part [60%+]) but they skipped a ton of my favorite scenes. Like the Bonfire of Dreams speech or the Sparks speech.

There was a lot of missed scenes and questionable things in both works but for the most part the dialogue/storyline in the anime was decent but low budget. The movie looked good but missed a lot of the things that made the Golden Age Arc mean something. Combined there really is a lot of potential.

What I love about this Redux is it combines the two into something great. Is has the character development that makes you fall in love with these characters. It has the brand new top notch visuals that make the eclipse something that takes your breath away and leaves you in awe. It has an extended 100 man fight scene that takes badass to a whole new level. Yes if you're one of those people who hates dubs with a passion or throws a hissyfit anytime a new work doesn't 100% copy paste from the original you might be able to get mad at this. But if you take it for what it is, an attempt to tell the story in the best possible way with the material provided, I think there is a lot to like here.

We can never tell a story in a TV show or Movie the exact same way as in the book (or in this case Manga) but is that really such a bad thing? Yes there will be scenes that fall flat or miss their mark in these new works. But there is also a lot of great stuff to see in a new light. I'm excited to see the fourth film by ApostleBob. I can't wait to see what he does with the Castle/Road speech.

Hello everyone, long time lurking in the interstice, first time posting anything.

I made this account specifically to tell you how much I enjoyed the redux. It was impressively well paced and added much needed meat to the movies. I also love how you incorporated the amazing score by Hirasawa Susumu all throughout, making the scenes from both mediums flow into one another.I cannot wait to see the next installment!

Yeah I've watched them all so far and it's definitely been my favorite Berserk Anime experience by far. Any chance you'll upload these to youtube so I could watch on my tv app?

It's certainly possible, though it would depend on upload limits and quality. Vimeo is one of the higher quality players and allows up to 5 GB per video so I've been able to maintain decent compression for now. The length of each necessitates big file sizes. I will explore this.

Not to their discredit, but I viewed some of it and I wasn't particularly impressed. An entirely new series should be created to fully remedy the persistent problems within the 1997 anime and the movies for that matter. Again the likelihood of that is slim and none, there seems to be no interest whatsoever in adapting Berserk into an Anime for a 2nd go around.